On Saturday night, regulation wasn’t enough to decide the non-league tilt between the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs and Western Brown Broncos. In a game that featured multiple lead changes and big shots, the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs escaped Mt. Orab by outlasting the host Broncos 81-80 in quadruple overtime.
The first quarter of play was back and forth, as the Mustangs took a 15 -14 lead after one quarter of play. In the second quarter, the host Broncos outscored their counterparts 12-10 to take a 26 to 25 lead into the half. The third quarter saw Western Brown win by a 16 to 15 margin to take a 42 to 40 lead into the fourth and final period. In the final frame, the Mustangs were able to outscore the Broncos by a 19 to 17 margin to force overtime. River Mullins and Devin Pierson were able to combine for five points in the first overtime, as Joe Sams of Western Brown scored all five of his team’s points to knot the score at 64 all after one overtime period.
In the second overtime, Eric McLaughlin connected from downtown and added a two point bucket to go along with Joe Giordano’s trey of his own. Chaiten Tomlin hit one free-throw and Sams had seven other points, with one being from three point range, to knot the game at 72 all after the second overtime. In the third overtime period, Devin Pierson made two free-throws and Eric McLaughlin added another two. For Western Brown, Chaiten Tomlin added two free-throws and Logan Nickell a two point basket to knot the score at 76 all after three overtime periods. In the final overtime period, Eric McLaughlin started the action with a two point bucket from the lane to give the Mustangs a 78-76 advantage. A few possessions later, Sams hit one free-throw to cut the deficit to one at 78-77. A few possessions later Sams came down and hit a three pointer from the corner to put Western brown up 80-78. Eric McLaughlin promptly answered by hitting a three of his own to put the Mustangs up 81-80. River Mullins would go to the free-throw line and miss two attempts.
Lynchburg would have to play defense for the final seconds of the game. A shot by Western Brown’s Logan Nickell from the left elbow was no good and the Mustangs escaped with an 81 to 80 overtime thriller.
With the two weekend wins, Lynchburg-Clay improves to 12-0 (8-0). Also on the weekend, Lynhcburg senior Devin Pierson passed former basketball standout Andy Richmond to become second on the boys all-time scoring list at Lynchburg-Clay. Richmond, who is a member of the Lynchburg-Clay Athletic Hall of Fame, scored 1,361 points in his Mustang career. After this weekend’s games, Pierson now stands at 1,364 career points.
LCHS – 15 10 15 19 5 8 4 5 – 81
WBHS – 14 12 16 17 5 8 4 4 – 80
Lynchburg-Clay: Pierson 7 (3) 3-7 26; McLaughlin 4 (4) 2-3 20; Giordano 5 (1) 0-5 13; Mullins (2) 2-4 8 ; Inman 1 (1) 4; Ahrmann 2 4; Blankenship 3-4 3 – Totals 19 (11) 10-23 81.
Western Brown: Tomlin 4 (5) 6-12 33; Sams 6 (4) 2-8 22; O’Hara 3 1-2 7; Harvey 2 2-2 6; Nickell 3 0-1 6; Butler 3-5 3; Fischer 1 2; Eyre 1-2 1 – Totals 19 (9) 15-32 80.
